Slow Rise
by raptorbox
Summary: [AU][Zifa] Tifa didn't plan on getting dragged into Zack's undercover mission as his fake wife, and she definitely didn't plan on having to kiss him.


a/n: fill for a tumblr prompt

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Tifa is tired of pretending to be Zack's wife. When she signed up to be his guide and host in her hometown she didn't realize she was going to be part of some undercover assignment. It's been a few months now and she's not even allowed to know what progress has been made on Zack's case. She doesn't like being left in the dark, especially not like this. At least Zack feels equally restless despite being the special agent in charge.

Out of boredom Zack learned how to bake bread. Tifa never thought she would get tired of bread. Out of the many things Zack has introduced to her it's the most unexpected. Sure, he taught her knife throwing and that spontaneous sets of squats really do relieve stress, but the bread thing really got her. She's sure Zack's also tired of bread but he's the one constantly baking it.

"Is there anything else you could learn to make?" Tifa offers, genuinely trying to be helpful. Bread is taking a toll on both of them. "There's ice-cream, nut butters...pies even sound nice."

Zack knocks on his newest sourdough with only a portion of the zeal he did when he first started doing this. "I guess I could start pickling stuff," he says absently, seemingly unaware that Tifa suggested nothing like that.

Tifa sighs. "You could do that. It's not bread."

The sourdough passes Zack's inspection and he sets it aside. "You got that right."

Zack's phone—the specific one for communication about the assignment—starts ringing. He answers it, listens for the code word, and sighs when he ends the call. "Back door," he says to Tifa. Tifa at this point knows that this means Tseng is here; it used to be Rude but he stopped coming by for some reason.

Tifa beats Zack to the back door and unlatches it. Sure enough, Tseng is waiting on the back porch looking like a secret agent. In the past Tifa's asked about the uptight attire and Tseng's somewhat embarrassed answer was that he looked more like a secret agent in civilian clothes. At least the suit made people giggle instead of whisper amongst themselves.

Tseng nods to Tifa. "Good morning."

Tifa shuts the door behind him. It's mid-afternoon. "Good morning," she replies. She follows him to the kitchen and doesn't miss the brief glimpse of confusion flash on Tseng's face when he's faced with Zack's multiple bread loaves.

Zack leans back against the counter, hands tucked in his hoodie. "Hey, man. What's going on?"

Tseng seems fixated on the bread. "Have you considered filing to sell from a home kitchen? We can bring a crew in to make sure it's up to code."

"I've thought about it but all I make is bread. Well I just thought about pickling stuff and—"

"So what's new, Tseng?" Tifa interrupts before Zack can go on a tangent about all his ideas for entrepreneurship. "You don't stop by that often."

Tseng clears his throat. "Our intelligence—" Zack scoffs and Tifa elbows him. "—has discovered that you two are raising suspicions."

Zack gapes. "What? How?"

"Are we doing something wrong?" Tifa asks. She feels more calm than she thought she would. Maybe it's the very vague implication that this situation could end if the cover falls through. It's a selfish thought but it's always present in her mind.

"To put it frankly: you two aren't affectionate enough. Your neighbors are gossiping," Tseng continues. "A rumor has started that you two aren't married or aren't in love. It will only lead to people trying to pry into your relationship which could be detrimental to the assignment."

Zack and Tifa glance at each other. They've mingled enough with the neighbors to guess who it was and have lived with each other long enough to exchange nonverbal communication. "So we just need to be a little more touchy-feely around certain people, yeah?" Zack guesses with a hint of annoyance that Tseng picks up as being personal.

"I suggest you two start learning to kiss each other convincingly," Tseng says outright. He ignores the gawking he receives. "Being "touchy-feely" isn't as convincing, especially for your particular neighbors. You obviously don't need to get more physical than that."

Tifa breathes a sigh of relief. "That's good."

"You might have to start talking as if you are, however. We'll inform you if that becomes necessary."

Zack groans and slumps against the counter. "Dude, can't these people mind their own business?"

Tseng is ever stony-faced. "No. They can't."

"Couldn't you have, I dunno, done all your creepy surveillance before putting us on Gossip Lane?"

"...I'll admit we may have made a mistake."

Tifa sighs. "So we'll just...kiss a little in front of people."

Tseng shakes his head. "You two will need to make it convincing. It has to seem completely real. If you show any awkwardness or uncertainty it may tip them off that—"

Zack interrupts, deadpan: "That someone among them is telling us what they're saying behind our backs? And suddenly changing our behavior unconvincingly will make it look like we're covering something up?"

"Exactly."

Tifa and Zack look at each other and frown a little deeper. They're both the kind of people who prefer for things like that to happen organically; honesty is important to both of them and it gets in the way of acting their parts. Tseng senses the discomfort and has absolutely nothing to soothe their concerns with.

He looks at Zack's bread corner. "I'll be on my way. May I take a loaf off your hands?"

Zack holds out his hand. "I gotta pay for my new hobby. You can take two."

Tseng, still expressing confusion yet going along with it, complies. He hands Zack three bills of the highest currency and takes three loaves in a reusable shopping bag from Tifa's horde.

Tifa escorts Tseng out the back door and returns to the kitchen, walking in on Zack holding each bill to the light. "Do you really think he would give you fake money?" she inquires.

"Can never be too careful with that bunch," Zack mutters. "Tseng's pretty generous at least. I like that guy." He pockets the cash and crosses his arms. Tifa's lived with him long enough to recognize that he's uncomfortable. She puts her hands flat on her hips instead of her fists. Zack's lived with her long enough to recognize that she's uncomfortable.

"So..." Tifa starts, "We really have to do this, huh?" Zack nods. "When do you want to...um...start?"

Zack looks at her. "Have you kissed anyone before?"

Tifa's silence is her answer. Zack whistles and Tifa looks away. "I just...never got around to it with this boy from my hometown, okay?"

"Nah, it's okay. It's not scary," Zack says. He straightens up and gestures for her to get closer. "I don't mind teaching you." He grins and Tifa simultaneously feels comforted and annoyed.

She heaves a sigh and goes to him. Her heart is beating faster as her anxiety rises. She's never been intimate in any sense with someone else and suddenly she has to get a crash course in kissing. It's not her favorite thing in the world.

Zack is taller than her and she's close enough that she's extra aware of it. She gasps when Zack puts his hands on her hips.

"Is that okay?" he asks. He waits for Tifa to nod and he tugs her closer, only tugging after every full set of steps Tifa takes towards him. When she's able to put her hands on his chest, he lets go of her hips. "How about this?"

Tifa swallows. "Um..."

Zack smiles and Tifa feels like she's seeing a softer side of all his flirtatious, excitable sunshine. "We can take it slow, this can be it for today."

She looks down at her hands on Zack's chest. Of course she wants to take it slow, but what if it's too slow? The sooner they can fix this gossip problem the better, right? Tseng was more pushy and urgent about this than Zack is, at least.

Tifa turns her gaze back up to Zack. "No, it's okay. What next?"

"Can I hold you?" Zack asks. Tifa nods, hesitant at first, then more confident. Zack puts his hands on her waist this time; they're so big and warm and holding her so securely.

She could...get used to this.

Tifa looks at her hands. "Should I do something, too?"

"Hm...you could put your arms around my neck, or something like that," Zack replies. Tifa goes for holding onto Zack's shoulders. "And now we kiss."

Tifa takes a deep breath. She closes her eyes. "Okay...okay, I'm ready."

She feels Zack's breath and her heart races. He's so close, closer than anyone has ever been to her. He's going to kiss her. He's really going to kiss her. She knows she doesn't have to worry about being good or bad at it right now—she doesn't even know what makes a kiss good or bad—but it's something she's entirely unfamiliar with and that's enough to worry her. She stays firm, though; she's not one to back down from anything.

Zack kisses her and it's...nice. Lips feel weird but at least his feel nice. He's gentle but firm, he's holding her just enough to not constrict her, and he...he smells nice, too. She never noticed. But she could blame that on smelling flour on him so often.

The kiss ends and her eyes flutter open. She stares up at Zack who seems about the same amount of pleasantly shocked as she feels. Zack smiles a little at her.

"Hey, you're still holding on," he notices. "Want another one?"

Tifa can tell he's joking now, that he's brushing this off by being his playful self. Honestly it's a relief to see him act this way after a few weeks of him baking endless loaves with increasing depression. She smiles.

"Actually...yeah. That wasn't so bad."

Zack blushes a little. "Oh—really?"

"I don't want to force you if you don't want to!" Tifa rushes to clarify. She feels her face getting warm. "I'm just saying it wasn't so bad."

"We can do a little more practice, I didn't mind that either."

Zack kisses her again. It's the same as the first but this time Zack tilts his head when he parts from her and goes back in. Tifa keeps herself still, she feels stiff. Zack can tell and he whispers on her lips, "You can relax. I've got you."

Tifa relaxes for a moment but when Zack kisses her again it's a little more intense and her guard is down; she felt protected by herself before but now she feels too open. She pushes on his shoulders and Zack immediately pulls away and lets go of her waist. Tifa backs up and fidgets her hands.

"I'm done for today," she proclaims. "I'll let you know when I'm ready again."

Zack puts his hands back in his hoodie pocket. Tifa's sticky lip gloss is still on his lips; he doesn't mind it. He smiles and nods. "Yeah, sure thing! You know where to find me." He makes Tifa chuckle.

"We're doing this so we can get away from each other, remember?" she says lightly. Zack shrugs.

"I dunno, I think you'll be the first person I ask to buy some bread and pickles from me," he teases. Tifa smiles.

"Okay. I'll wait for you," she promises. "I need to get some laundry done."

She leaves and when she turns the corner into the laundry room she puts her back to the wall and covers her mouth. She can still feel Zack's mouth on hers, his hands on her waist and his shoulders under her hands. It's all in her head though, right? These things don't actually linger. It was her first time, that must be it. She just needs to keep her cool and not let her guard down too much.

She looks up at the laundry machines and discovers that she does not, in fact, have any laundry to do.

In the kitchen Zack scratches his head and figures he should clean up all the dirty dishes and baking supplies; he already cleaned the counter where he kneads the dough so that's one task down. He takes a deep breath. Tifa's trust, even if brief, made him feel blessed or...something. He knew before that she was pretty, sure, but the way she looked up at him after they kissed gave him butterflies. He grabs a paper towel, wets it, and starts to dab at the gloss she passed on to him. It wasn't his favorite feeling in the world but the lingering evidence of her was exciting.

He gets back to cleaning the dishes. He needs to research pickling. He wonders what kind of pickles Tifa would like the most.


End file.
